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January 28, 2014

A Corgi Playdate and Other Adventures

Ruby afield

Ruby had a wonderful weekend filled with corgis, labradoodles, adventurous walks and new stuff. We set out on Friday morning, heading south in my Subaru. Ruby has been getting car sick on a regular basis, so I fed her a very light breakfast several hours before we left. I'm happy to report that we had a vomit-free journey! She donned her Thundershirt which seems to help with her anxiousness and reactivity in the car, and cued up her Through a Dog's Ear CD. We made a quick stop at the farm store to pick up senior feed for my horses, who are boarded out on the eastern plains. Ruby likes to go in to the feed store - there is always someone to say "hi" to, dog chews to choose from, and a cat or two hanging about. She got some bully sticks and some Whimzees alligators, (although I call them "crock-ee-dyles") as well as compliments on her green ensemble. I took her for a little walk at the barn, where she enjoyed sniffing in the tall grass. She is still uncertain about horses, though they really wanted to check her out! She waited in the car while I gave some treats to my Paso Fino gelding, Coro, and my Arabian mare, Notchee. You can see a picture of them here.

The Ginger Brigade, L-R: Ruby, Walter, Preacher

Our next stop was Infinity Farm, where my friend and former trainer lives with her menagerie of horses, ponies, llamas, goats, ducks and most importantly for the purposes of this story, dogs. Anna has two rescued corgis in her fantastic care: Walter and Preacher, as well as a labradoodle named Finny who Ruby adores chewing on. This was Ruby and Preacher's first meeting, and they hit it off splendidly, spending hours covering each other in spit. Walter prefers human company and was glad to leave the roughhousing to the other two, although he enjoys policing their antics with his authoritative quacking. Ruby even managed to find some leopard-print slippers for a game of tug-o-war. We reluctantly said our goodbyes as the sun started to set, and left for my aunt's house where Ruby had a second string of dogs to exhaust: my aunt's labradoodle, Hachi, and Aussie/spaniel mix, Stevezey.

finally crashed on Friday night

view from our hike in Palmer Park

On Saturday morning we loaded the dogs in my aunt's Jeep (Rubicon, appropriately) and took them for a hike in Palmer Park above Colorado Springs. We met several joggers at the trail head and Ruby barked a little. We had the snowy, slippery trail mostly to ourselves, encountering one off-leash husky-mix and a man with a beagle. I picked Ruby up both times since the trail was narrow, and turned her away as they passed. I was quick enough that she hardly noticed the husky, but she did some shrieking about the beagle. The man, who was walking his perfectly well-behaved beagle on-leash, apologized to me! I was stunned and replied that my dog was the one with the problem! On our way back we started seeing a lot of mountain bikers on the trails below, but luckily were only passed by a few. At this point Ruby was pretty riled up and I was happy to get back to the car. She and Stevezey fell asleep on the way home.

sleepy Jeep dogs

My aunt and I went out for lunch and some shopping while the dogs stayed with my Grandma. Gram had many dogs over the years and loves seeing Ruby's latest tricks. I needed a new bed for Ruby since there was a hole in her old one (which had been Freya's) and she had started pulling the stuffing out. I found a cute peach bolster bed in her size, as well as a little kitty hut for my cat, Nina. Nina is 17 years old and her favorite place to sleep is by the heat register in my upstairs bathroom, so now she will have a warm, comfy den where no dogs are allowed! Ruby and I had an uneventful trip home until a stop at the grocery store - I had planned to run in quickly but she was barking at people in the parking lot so I did not want to leave her stressed out in the car and opted to take her home first. She was exhausted, almost too tired to check out her Hero Dog Box which had arrived!

More goodies!

testing out her new bed

Ruby was very mellow for the rest of Saturday and Sunday, but we went on some short walks, worked on some new tricks, and practiced the Relaxation Protocol. Somewhat discouragingly, we are stuck on only Day 3, but we made some real progress the last few sessions and I think we are close to completing it. She has started laying her head down, and even sometimes laying on her side like her "relax" cue. I have found that I need to be sure she has had some exercise first, and is interested in food but not too hungry. I use her regular kibble as treats for that work - soft or smelly treats are a bit too exciting when the objective is to relax.

I was really proud of Ruby this weekend: she met a new dog, went hiking in a busy place, and played nicely with her dog cousins. She is truly happier around other dogs that she knows, and I am moving forward with being a foster for the American Eskimo rescue...more to come on that front soon!

You know, that is a common theory with owners/observers but much of what I have read has dismissed it. Reactivity is often based on fear/frustration, and Ruby's seems to be a combination. She seems less concerned with people when she is with other dogs (unless they are moving at a fast pace) but it doesn't make a difference with dog encounters. I think she mainly wants to go jump in other dogs' faces - when we've had off-leash dogs run up to us, it usually goes okay as long as they're friendly because that's what she wants. As for bikes...she badly wants to chase them.

Big weekend for the red haired girl. We sure love her visits, even Walter although he isn't likely to admit it with the glee that Preacher and Finny show. And then, I like tea time with you. Perfect! Thanks for the visit and spit bath.

I have one month left of a six-month Bark Box subscription, and have sampled several other companies when they have coupon deals - I can't decide which I like best, but what I liked about Hero Dog Box was the products from small companies - two of the treat varieties were from little dog bakeries. The toy in our box was high quality, too - a tough treat ball from Planet Dog. It is hard to pick a size for Ruby since at 20 lbs she's right between 'small' and 'medium' - I like the tiny treats which are great for training, but sometimes the toys are on the small size for her. There is one that allows you to pick the contents each month, but I think part of the fun is the element of surprise. Ruby loves getting them in the mail, but now thinks /every/ package that comes is for her!

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